Reflections on Dachau Concentration Camp

A guided tour to and of the Dachau Concentration Camp was one of the last things Hubby and I did the week we spent in Munich. I am glad we saved it until last. We had time to reflect on what we saw, heard, read, and felt. We did not have to push that experience aside for another sensory experience. I chose the photos I'm sharing shortly after getting home, but I wasn't ready to share my experience right away. It is now two weeks since we walked through the gates of Dachau...through the very same gates as the many thousand prisoners before us.

Dachau was not the first concentration camp, but it was the first State Concentration Camp, and the model for all the camps to come after. Originally, it was to relieve the overcrowding of political prisoners and foreigners in the prisons. 

the only entrance for the compound

"work sets you free"

early uniforms of the prisoners

notice the posture & fitness of the men

"Prisoners had to line up mornings and evenings on the roll-call area to be counted. Irrespective of the weather, they were forced stand at attention. This torture could drag on for hours." -The Dachau Concentration Camp, 1933-1945 text and photo documents from the exhibition

admissions, reception and SS office buildings

the room where the prisoners were registered and

relieved of any and all possessions, including their clothes

photo of the communal shower room

the only documented prisoner to escape Dachau

Hans Bieler, 1933

brought to the camp on April 25 and escaped on May 9

published the first atrocities of concentration camps

memorial wreath

art work (3 chain links) showing the patches worn by prisoners

each color signified a specific crime; political, Jewish,

homosexual, criminals, anti-socials, Gypsies, Jehovah Witnesses, etc.

some triangles were pointed up, others pointed down

some overlapped, creating the six-pointed star

International Monument sculpted by Nandor Glid

"The sculpture recalls human bodies entangled in barbed wire." -The Dachau Concentration Camp, 1933-1945 text and photo documents from the exhibition

the yard or roll call area

As we walked across this area after from the SS offices and reception building, I could feel the presence of the men (and later women) who stood in rows for hours in all weather, twice a day at 5:15 AM and 7 PM, awaiting to learn their fate.

But it was in the Barracks building when we saw the beds and learned how the camp grew from 5000  prisoners (the original intended population) to 6000 in 1938 to more than 40,000 in 1944, that I felt the weight of this place...

three levels of bunks with separated 'bed' sections

1933 replica

1938 replica

less wood used, two men on each of three levels

no bed separation

replica of bunks in 1943

This visual had a very profound effect on me. As we listened to our guide describe the conditions of open windows to let the air move through in all seasons, no showers, crowded conditions, food allotment, and many other details I was both appalled at the cruelty of humans and amazed at the human spirit to survive.

Up until the summer of 1944, only men were housed at Dachau, but after the closing of some of the sub camps around Dachau, some 7000, mostly Jewish women, were sent to this main camp.

"Women were subjected to the same harsh conditions of imprisonment as men. But women also had to bear the added degradation of sexual violence, of constant disrobing, of physical examination to determine their fitness for work, and the lack of hygienic facilities." -The Dachau Concentration Camp, 1933-1945 text and photo documents from the exhibition

34 barracks built in 1938

30 of them held the prisoners

4 were dedicated to medical facilities

Catholic Memorial

just one of four or five

Just off to the east of the last of the 34 barracks, over a water-filled ditch and behind a row of trees...

the first crematorium, two furnaces

too small to accommodate the camp's population

four large furnaces

stages for cremation started on the far end of the building

with disrobing (so the uniforms could be used again),

shower room/gas chamber and then furnace room

Jewish Memorial

one of the mass graves

Pistol Range and a Blood Ditch

And finally the most inspiring and promising part of this sad, sad place...

Unknown Inmate by Fritz Koelle

first memorial at Dachau

The sculpture is everything the prisoners (while in camp) were not: looking up and out, not down; clothes, not a uniform; hands in his pockets, not as his side; feet apart, not together...

"To honor the dead, to admonish the living."

Today near Dachau Concentration Camp there is a training center for riot police. There is also the  Carmelite Convent (Catholic) as shown in this photo.

Our final stop that day was to the SS Shooting Range Memorial Site, in a nearby community, Hebertshausen.

display boards at the site

memorial to the 4000 Soviet soldiers killed here

names of several hundred are listed

research continues to name more of those killed

area where the Soviet soldiers disembarked

and were shot in the short bunkers to the right

1941-1945

one of a half-dozen long shooting ranges

picture of the maintenance buildings during the time as

an SS Shooting Range/Training Facility

today those buildings are a homeless shelter

And at the end of the lane to the shooting range

a reminder that it is fall, another season and life goes on

Added note: I have visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and that visit left a very lasting impression. This summer I read Lilac Girls and a few years ago The Book Thief, and there have been other books with a WWII theme. The visit to Dachau seems to have tied it all together, especially after reading Lilac Girls. Dachau and the other concentration camp memorials are  a 'gift' of the German people "To honor the dead, to admonish the living." I have a better understanding of HOW and WHY it happened and pray it will never happen again.

Geocaching in Salzburg & A Traditional Dessert

One of the bonus pleasures of this awesome trip was finding geocaches. I had spent a number of hours researching the areas we'd be visiting and then trying to find geocaches that might be near our tourist stops. I often had to translate the cache description from German to English (Thanks, Google) and write notes on the printed cache page. I poured over maps looking for the train stations as that is often a cache location. Most of the time we were not on guided tours, so we had the flexibility of walking another block or two or three to search for a nearby geocache. Tall buildings and narrow streets restricted satellite reception making the search a little harder. Not all geocache containers are universal, either.

As in the case of visiting any US city, we almost always check if there are virtual and earth caches that would be of interest and educational. We lucked out in Munich as there were very few visitors in the plaza the morning we spent looking for fossils in the building walls or looking for cameras mounted on buildings.

Hubby and I were excited to add Austria as another European country to our collection. OFD had shared the area she planned to spend our time in Salzburg. I found five geocaches as possibilities and then one other at the train station. Here are photos from our Salzburg geocaching adventure.

And they're off walking the footbridge in search of geocache #1.

made the find & signed the log

telephone booth for #2

#3 had Hubby puzzled, I made the find on this one

#4 was in front of Mozart's birthplace and museum. It was so very, very busy. We spent a LONG time speculating where the cache might be hidden, trying to be nonchalant as we looked behind plaques, under door handles, in cracks of walls, etc. OFD went shopping. Finally, after more reading and discussing and scouting of the area, we determined the cache must be in the corner next to a bench. Two women sat on the bench with no intention of leaving. Hubby waited and waited. Finally, they left, he rushed in and commandeered the stone bench and quickly found the geocache and log sheet. An older gentleman was roasting chestnuts on that corner and I am certain he wondered what 'those two tourists' were doing. Hubby is all smiles on #4. He took off looking for another one across the river, but struck out. 

We did find #5 at the train station and once again, my research skills paid off and saved us many extra steps and minutes of searching. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

OFD had researched a place she wanted to try for lunch or dinner while in Salzburg, The Elephant Hotel & Restaurant. It was in the Mozart Plaza area. We had to get some help from a local resident and then with our friend Google, we were able to find the right street.

on the wall when we walked in

interesting wall art as everything else and I do mean

everything else was elephant related

including the table napkins

the girls had schnitzel

this was served with cranberries, I loved it

Hubby had fresh trout

also delicious

But we came because of the dessert...

Salzburger Nockerl

"a sweet soufflé served as a dessert, 

a culinary speciality in the Austrian city of Salzburg"

served by the waitstaff 

we waited about 30 minutes for the dessert to come 

to the table

raspberry sauce

The sweet dumplings are made of egg yolk, flour, sugar, and vanilla, mixed into a thin dough. Then egg white is whisked until it is stiff and folded carefully into the dough. Afterwards dumplings (Nocken, diminutive: Nockerl, cf. Gnocchi) are formed and baked on low heat in an oven.

Salzburger Nockerl are always freshly prepared and served warm with powdered sugar, sometimes with a raspberry sauce. Like any soufflé, the preparation requires a bit of practice. Though traditionally a dessert, the dish is so filling that it is also suitable as a main course. - Wikipedia

like eating meringue

Presumably derived from French soufflé dishes, Salzburger Nockerl, like Kaiserschmarrn or Apple strudel, have become an icon of Austrian cuisine. Legend has it that they were invented by Salome Alt (1568–1633), the concubine of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau in the early 17th century. In any case the golden dumplings represent Salzburg's Baroque atmosphere left by the territorial prince, whose life of dissipation came to an end when his archbishopric was challenged by the Bavarian neighbours. They are supposed to represent the hillsides surrounding the city centre: Festungsberg, Mönchsberg and Kapuzinerberg. The dusting of powdered sugar resembles the snow-covered peaks. - Wikipedia

We also stopped at Paul Fürst. We were supposed to try dessert, but we were all too full from The Salzburger Nockerl to eat anything else so it was just a place to rest the weary feet and grab some liquid refreshment.

it was so busy, there was no room outside on the plaza

the 3 of us sat around an itty bitty table inside

I did buy Mozartkugel, but from a neighboring store. It is a small ball of pistachio or hazelnut marzipan, coated in praline cream and finally dipped in melted chocolate.

ice cream seemed to be a favorite treat the day we stopped

 We grabbed dinner at a stand near the train station before we headed back to Munich. Salzburg is a beautiful city and I am glad I got to spend my time in the oldest part of the city, enjoying its charm and history. Another successful day for all three of us!